SCOTLAND vice-captain Gordon Bulloch insists confidence is crucial to his side's chances of beating France in their penultimate RBS 6 Nations game of the year.

Scotland have not beaten France since 1999 and suffered a record 51-9 defeat against them in last year's World Cup in Australia.

Despite three defeats so far in the Six Nations this year, Glasgow hooker Bulloch claims Scotland cannot afford to go into the game with an inferiority complex.

He said: "We've got to go out and believe and if we get a good start to the match then that belief will come.

"We hadn't managed to score a try against England in a long time but we managed to put a try past them. And our defence has improved and we can use that as an attacking weapon.

"We also have to pick the spirits up which have been a bit dented by the three results so far.

"It's a positive attitude needed in training this week so that we do go into the game with huge mental belief and really do something to get the crowd behind us in the first 20 minutes."

Bulloch, however, admits Scotland will need to improve on the their lacklustre performance against Italy in their last outing when they went down 20-14 in Rome.

He said: "I think the ball that we put back at times wasn't especially good so we have to pick it up on Sunday.

"We were winning enough setpiece balls but the scrum wasn't as entirely as we would have liked.

"The line-outs were winning balls, the first-phase movement was good but after that we were breaking down.

"I think if we get those points right against France then we'll give ourselves a chance."

Scotland captain Chris Paterson, who is set to move to the wing for the visit of the French, knows they have to improve but the Edinburgh player urged his team-mates to relax and let the visitors take all the pressure.

He said: "In a nutshell, we have to be confident, positive and have a huge belief in ourselves.

"We're coming back from a defeat that we're upset about. We have to show the commitment and belief to the fans who doubted us in Italy.

"I think the players have to accept responsibility at times and hopefully we can do that.

"But we're going out to enjoy ourselves and we've nothing to lose - the pressure is on France because potentially they are Grand Slam winners."